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GEARING FOR TRACTION ENGINES. No. 424,383. Patented Mar. 25, 1890.

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- GEARING FOR TRACTION ENGINES.

No. 424,383. Patented Mar. 25, .1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS M. \VALKER, OF NEIVARK, OHIO, AS SIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JAMES H.SMITH,

'OF SAME PLACE.

. SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N'o. 424,383, dated March25, 1890.

Application filed November 6, 1889. Serial No. 329,416. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANCIS M. IVALKER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Newark, in the county of Licking and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Gearing forTraction-Engines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This improvement relates to a device for use mainly in traction-engines,by which the power of the engine may be steadily and c011- stantlytransmitted to the driving-wheels and yet the gearing is protected frominjury or breakage by any sudden or undue strain; and the inventionconsists in the peculiar construction, arrangement, and combination ofparts hereinafter more particularly described, and then definitelypointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of an ordinarytraction-engine As nothing is claimed on the general con-' struction ofthe engine used, it being only shown to comply with the rules of thePatent Office, it is unnecessary to describe it further, and I willtherefore refer in my description only to that part of my inventionwhich I claim as new.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 2 and 3, A represents one ofthe shafts of an engine, such as the main or counter shaft, 011 which iskeyed or otherwise firmly secured the wheel-plate B, carrying studs 0 0,around each of which is a spring D, which presses upon an annularfriction-plate E, said springs being held in compressed condition by thecaps F and nuts G, which last may be used to adjust the force of thesprings by screwing them down on the studs 0 G.

Between the wheel-plate B and the frictionplate E is a toothed annulusI-I, having its teeth It formed either for regular toothed or sprocketgearing, as the case may be, and on each side of this annulus is a ringI, of some suitable substance, preferably leather, which should besecured by cement or otherwise either to the wheel-plate andfriction-plate or to the sides of the annulus H.

The operation is as follows: The engine being so arranged that its poweris transmitted to the annulus either by gearing, as shown in Fig. 1, orchain-gearing, as the case may be, and when everything is in its normalcondition for work the friction between the annulus and the plates dueto the pressure of the springs upon the plate E will be sufficient todrive the shaft A; but should any undue or sudden strain be accidentallyput upon the engine, such as would be likely to damage an engine nothaving such a device, then the annulus would slip between the plates andno damagewould result. As soon as the sudden or undue strain is overcomeor removed the engine will resume its normal action without further careor attention,because the friction between the annulus and the plates issufficient to carry the proper load of the engine at all times, and willonly allow of slipping action when too much strain is put upon it.

I do not intend to limit myself to the use of leather or similarmaterialbetween the annulus and plates, for in some cases it may bedispensed with. I may sometimes set blocks of wood in recesses in theannulus, as shown in dotted lines, and thus dispense with the rings ofleather; or, for the same purpose I may make the inner part of theannulus of wood with a metallic ring or tile on the out side to carrythe teeth.

It is evident that the annulus may be made to receive the power from theengine and transmit it to the wheel-plate, or that the power may begiven firstto the wheel-plate and transmitted by it to the annulus, aspretransmitting the power of the engine to the 10 ferred. Itraction-wheel, substantially as described.

What I claim as new is In testimony whereof I affix my signature Thecombination of a shaft A, a Wheelin presence of two witnesses. 5 plateB, fast thereon, afriction-plate E, carried by said Wheel-plate, studs0, projecting from FRANCIS M. WVALKER. the Wheel-plate, springs D,pressing on the Witnesses:

friction-plate, and the toothed annulus H, set WVILFRED 0. SMITH,

between said wheel and friction plates and A. A. STASEL.

